Draft 8/5/12 Serene Sunday – Power of Prayer

I have always believed in prayer. As a young child I said my prayers before I went to sleep at night even when I did not know what it all meant. As a young woman, I came into my faith and developed my own personal relationship with God and continued to pray. When I became a young bride I prayed for myself and my new husband. Later, when I became a mother, my prayers began to include my growing batch of children. I pray when things are good and I pray when things are bad. I just pray.

Years ago, I had a young assistant who worked for me. She was involved in a car accident one day on the way to work. She called to explain she would be late because she was in an accident and the two friends with her had to go to the hospital. I asked if she was going to the hospital and if she wanted me to pick her up and take her home. She informed me that her mother had prayed for her so she didn’t need the hospital and she would be to work about an hour late. That experience touched me and made me want to be that kind of mother.

My children from the time they were tiny little things whenever one of my children fell down I would pray for them and pray their boo-boos would get better. They always did. No matter how the children got hurt, the first thing they said as tiny little ones and the first thing they say now is “Mommy, I got hurt, can you pray for me?” If my son is having a hard day he will ask me to pray for him. If he is having trouble behaving as expected he will ask for a hug and for me to pray for him. I have become that praying mother I wanted to be.

Helen Baylor “Praying Grandmother”

Scientists have done studies that show hospital patients who pray have better outcomes than those who do not. There is a strong body of study that says the words people say have power. Prayer is words, spoken to God by a person with hope or sometimes with desperation. For me, prayer is hope, strength and a path to serenity. So, the question for you this Serene Sunday is do you use the power of prayer to find serenity?